Systems and methods for reducing cut-offs in program recording

ABSTRACT

A media recording system may be provided. The recording system may include features for reducing recording cut-off of a particular media event due to changes in the start time and end time of what is scheduled to be recorded. The recording system may provide a user with an opportunity to select a program by for example, selecting a listing, to have that program automatically recorded at a scheduled time for presentation to viewers. Changes in the schedule of programs may be compensated manually or automatically when the recording system receives information about actual or predicted time changes. In a manual mode, a user may adjust start or end times based on time change information that is displayed. For an automatic mode, the recording system may automatically compensate for predicted or actual time changes that are known by automatically adjusting the start and end times of recording.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/090,178, filed Apr. 4, 2016, now allowed, which is a continuation ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/775,025, filed May 6, 2010, now U.S.Pat. No. 9,307,278, which is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/634,154, filed Dec. 9, 2009, now abandoned, which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/821,005, filed Mar.29, 2001, now abandoned, which claims the benefit of U.S. provisionalpatent application Ser. No. 60/193,949, filed Mar. 31, 2000, each ofwhich is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to media recording systems. More particularly,this invention relates to media recording systems that provide areduction in media cut-off when media that is distributed at impreciseintervals is recorded.

Video and audio media, such as television programs, pay-per-viewprograms, near-video-on-demand (NVOD) programs, video-on-demand (VOD)programs, music, promotional material, and other types of media, aretypically distributed to viewers over wired and wireless networks.Suitable wired and wireless networks may include, for example, broadcasttelevision system networks, one-way and two-way cable television systemnetworks, digital broadcasting services (DBS) and other satellitedelivery services networks, the Internet, and other suitable types ofnetworks. Users' media viewing and listening experiences are typicallydictated by the distribution schedules of media providers. With theadvent of audio cassette recorders, videocassette recorders, and othermedia recording devices, users currently have the ability to replicateor time-shift their viewing and listening experiences; they may recordprograms, in an attended or unattended fashion, and play back theprograms for later viewing or listening.

More recently, products have been developed that allow users to managetheir viewing experiences and record media with increased flexibility.Personal video recorders (PVRs), such as those provided by TIVO andREPLAY, record programs on hard-disk drives. Users can schedule programsfor recording and play them back at a later time. These systems alsorecord what users are watching in real-time, allowing the users to pausereal-time programs when, for example, the user has to leave the room.Upon returning, users may resume their viewing where they left off, andmay even fast forward through commercials until they reach the point atwhich the program is provided. Users may also rewind programs.

Another technology that has reshaped the way users view and managetelevision is the interactive television program guide. Interactivetelevision program guides are well known. Illustrative interactivetelevision program guides are described, for example, in Knee et al.U.S. Pat. No. 5,589,892 and Knudson et al. U.S. patent application Ser.No. 09/357,941, filed Jul. 16, 1999, which are hereby incorporated byreference herein in their entireties. Interactive television programguides may be based on a number of different hardware platforms.Suitable hardware that may be used in implementing a program guideincludes hardware such as satellite receivers, personal computertelevisions (PC/TVS), personal computers (e.g., with television tunercards), cable set-top boxes, or any other suitable hardware. Interactiveprogram guides may allow users to record programs on digital or analogstorage devices (e.g., videocassettes, hard disks, floppy discs, flashmemory, recordable compact discs “CDs”, recordable digital versatilediscs “DVDs”, or any other type of storage). Interactive program guidesand features for controlling videocassette recorders are described, forexample, in Ellis et al. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/924,239,filed Sep. 5, 1997, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein inits entirety. Interactive program guides having digital storage for usein recording are described, for example, in Hassell et al. U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/157,256, filed Sep. 17, 1998, which is herebyincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Programs may also be recorded on a program guide, the Internet, or otherserver. Client-server program guide systems are described, for example,in Ellis et al. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/374,043, filed Aug.13, 1999, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety. Client-server guides with remote server recording aredescribed, for example, in Ellis et al. U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/332,244, filed Jun. 11, 1999, which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety. The program guide server may belocated at the cable system headend or other suitable location. Theprogram guide may be an on-line program guide, which may be implementedusing a web server on the Internet. On-line program guide systems aredescribed, for example, in Boyer et al. U.S. patent application Ser. No.08/938,028, filed Sep. 18, 1997, which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

Some media distribution systems, such as television networks, begin orend programs at times that are slightly off from published start or endtimes of the programs. One television network may, for example,consistently start and/or end a program or programs at three minutesbefore their scheduled times. Still others may start and/or end programsat their scheduled times. In many instances, users may not have a way ofknowing when a program actually starts or ends. When users scheduletheir VCRs, PVRs, or other recording systems, whether directly or via aninteractive program guide, to record programs according to the publishedstart and end times, the beginning or ending of the programs may be cutoff. This may frustrate users, especially when the last minute of aprogram contains content that a user has been waiting for.

Television programs or other media may start at unscheduled times when,for example, a real-time event, such as a sporting event, runs late.Users recording the sporting event, that is unpredictably running laterthan the published scheduled time to end (e.g., as a result of overtimein a sporting event), may experience an early cut-off in the recordingof that event. Furthermore, if the user has cued a program, scheduled tofollow the sporting event that is unpredictably running past itsscheduled end time, he or she may obtain an inappropriate recording ofthe adjacent event. One approach has been to allow users to specifypadding to account for such variation in start times and end times whenrecording programs. For instance, REPLAY may incorporate a feature thatallows users to manually set padding. This approach is deficient,however, in that the user is burdened with scheduling the amount ofpadding and the recording medium is wasted on unwanted content if thepadding, or a portion of the padding, is not used for recording thedesired program. Such an approach is also inappropriate for situationswhere time changes in published times may vary from network to networkand from program to program. If users cannot remember the right amountof padding that is required, they must either waste recording time orchance a cut-off by estimating too little.

In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the invention to providesystems and methods for cut-off reduction when recording mediadistributed at imprecise intervals.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This and other objects of the invention are accomplished in accordancewith the principles of the present invention by providing mediarecording systems that may determine time changes in the distribution ofmedia. A media recording system is provided, such as an interactiveprogram guide system with a storage device, a PVR system, an intelligentVCR, any other suitable system, or a combination thereof, that may tracktime changes used by media distributors to delay the start and/or extendthe end times of media events from their scheduled start and/or endtimes.

The recording system may be used to record television programs, audioprograms, promotional material, or any other suitable media that isdistributed according to a schedule, using any suitable distributionscheme (e.g., radio-frequency, cable, satellite, Internet, etc.). Thesystem may, for example, provide users with an opportunity to specifyincrements in seconds or minutes (e.g., in one minute increments) forthe early or late recording of a desired media event. Users maydetermine how to set such increments by channel, network, mediaprovider, by title, or using any other suitable criteria. The system maymonitor a real-time data stream for an identifier or any other cue thatindicates media is starting or is about to start or ending or about toend or just ended. For example, data in a vertical blanking interval(VBI) on a channel may be monitored to inform the system of a particularmedia that is about to begin. The recording of media may be performed bythe user's equipment or by a server that is remote to the user's home.

If desired, data associated with media may be provided to the recordingsystem. The associated data, such as program listings data for aninteractive program guide, may be provided along with the media that isto be recorded or separate from the media using any suitable approach(e.g., using a continuous stream, using periodic communicating, using aclient/server based approach, using any other suitable approach, or acombination thereof). The associated data may indicate a time change(e.g., a specific time delay or extension) desired by media providersfor airing of the media. The time delay or extension may be specified bythe media providers ahead of time, or may be predicted by the dataprovider based on past occurrences of time changes. Time delays andextensions may be entered in real-time/near-real-time by the dataprovider or others, or may be recognized automatically based on cues inthe media. The recording system may automatically adjust or allow theuser to adjust recording times for programs based on this time delay andextension information.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will beapparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like referencecharacters refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 is an illustrative schematic block diagram of an interactivetelevision system in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is an illustrative schematic block diagram of televisiondistribution facility of FIG. 1 in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 is an illustrative schematic block diagram of user televisionequipment of FIG. 1 in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 is a more generalized illustrative schematic block diagram ofuser television equipment of FIG. 1 in accordance with one embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 5 is a diagram of an illustrative main menu display screen thatprovides access to various program guide features in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 6 is a diagram of an illustrative program listings display screenthat provides users with access to various program guide features inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a diagram of an illustrative information display screen thatprovides users with access to various program guide features inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a diagram of another illustrative program listings displayscreen that provides users with access to various program guide featuresin accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a diagram of an illustrative recording directory displayscreen that provides users with access to various program guide featuresin accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a diagram of an illustrative pending selection display screenthat provides users with access to various program guide features inaccordance with the present invention;

FIGS. 11a, 11b, and 11c are diagrams of illustrative recordinginformation display screens that provide users with access to variousprogram guide features in accordance with the present invention;

FIGS. 12a and 12b are diagrams of an illustrative recording preferencesdisplay screen that provides users with access to various program guidefeatures in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of illustrative steps involved in associatingtime change data with media in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIGS. 14a-14c are flowcharts of illustrative steps involved in recordingwith predicted time changes in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 15 is a flowchart of illustrative steps involved in monitoring areal-time data stream in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 16 is an illustrative schematic block diagram of a recording systemin accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

An illustrative system 10 in accordance with the principles of thepresent invention is shown in FIG. 1. Media may be distributed from oneor more main facilities 12 to television distribution facility 24 andultimately to user television equipment 26. Distributed media may berecorded with equipment that is implemented at least partially on usertelevision equipment 26 or at least partially at a server (discussedfurther in FIG. 2) that is remote to user television equipment 26. Mediathat is to be recorded may be any suitable audio and/or video media,such as, for example, television programs, pay-per-view programs,video-on-demand (VOD) programs, music, promotional material, and anyother type of media which is typically distributed to viewers over wiredand wireless networks. For the purpose of clarity, and not by way oflimitation, the media recording systems, techniques, or methods that arediscussed herein are discussed primarily in the context of recordingprograms for programming. Data for the recording system may be providedby data distribution systems that may provide data separate fromnetworks or systems that distribute media. Other suitable distributionschemes, such as schemes involving data transmission over the Internetor the like may also be used. If desired, the recording of programmingmay be implemented using a client-server architecture in which theoperations of detecting programs and recording programs may be providedpartly by a server (e.g., a server at television distribution facility24 or at main facility 12) and partly by user television equipment 26.

Main facility 12 may include a program guide database 14 for storingprogram guide information (e.g., television program listings data,program-related information, channel listings data, channel-relatedinformation, network listings data, network-related information, packagelistings data, package-related information, pay-per-view orderinginformation, television program promotional information, program guideInternet-related information, etc.), video-on-demand (VOD) database 16,channel mapping database 18, or any other applicable databases. Multiplemain facilities 12 may provide data to television distribution facility24. Only one main facility has been shown to avoid over-complicating thedrawing. For example, one main facility may be dedicated for providingprogram guide information and another main facility may provide specificmedia information.

Main facility 12 may transmit information from program guide database 14as well as any other information through communications link 22 totelevision distribution facility 24. In practice, main facility 12 maytransmit information in parallel to multiple television distributionfacilities. Only one television distribution facility has been shown toavoid over-complicating the drawing. In some embodiments, main facility12 may transmit information to other types of distribution facilitiessuch as Internet servers for websites or a separate program guidedistribution facility such as a wireless distribution facility.

Communications link 22 may be a satellite link, a telephone networklink, an Internet link, a fiber-optic link, another suitablecommunications link, or a combination of such communications links. Anysuitable program content may be transmitted by main facility 12 overcommunications link 22. Dependent on the type of program to betransmitted, appropriate links that are more efficient may beestablished. For instance, if it is desired to transmit video signalsover communications link 22, a relatively high bandwidth link such as asatellite link may be preferable to a link that has a relatively lowbandwidth. Television distribution facility 24 may be any facilitysuitable for distributing television programs to viewers, such as acable system headend, a broadcast distribution facility, or a satellitetelevision distribution facility.

Television distribution facility 24 may distribute information receivedfrom main facilities, such as one or more main facilities 12, to usertelevision equipment 26 via communications path 30. User televisionequipment 26 may be any suitable television equipment that containssufficient processing capabilities to implement advanced programrecording methods and features in accordance with the present invention.

Communications path 30 may be a cable link, fiber-optic link, satellitelink, broadcast link, another suitable link, or a combination of suchlinks. Any suitable communications scheme may be used to transmit dataover communications path 30, including in-band transmissions,out-of-band transmissions, digital transmissions, analog transmissions,cable transmissions, satellite transmissions, over-the-airtransmissions, multi-channel multi-point distribution services (MMDS)transmissions, data-over-cable service interface specification (DOCSIS)transmissions, or any other suitable communications scheme. There aretypically multiple associated communications paths 30. Only onecommunications path 30 is shown to avoid over-complicating the drawings.

Communications path 30 preferably has sufficient bandwidth to allowtelevision distribution facility 24 to distribute televisionprogramming, program guide information, VOD and NVOD information, andother information to user television equipment 26. Multiple televisionand audio channels (analog, digital, or both analog and digital) may beprovided to user television equipment 26 via communications paths 30. Ifdesired, some of the data may be distributed to user televisionequipment 26 by one or more distribution facilities that are separatefrom television distribution facility 24 using communications paths thatare partly or completely separate from communications path 30.

The data distribution technique used to distribute data oncommunications path 30 may depend on the type of information that isbeing distributed. For example, text and graphics may be distributedover an out-of-band channel using an out-of-band modulator ordistributed in the vertical blanking interval (VBI) lines of an analogvideo channel. Video information may also be distributed in this way,although large quantities of video information may be more efficientlydistributed using one or more digital channels on communications path30. Such digital channels may also be used for distributing text andgraphics.

Programming information from computer network server 28 may also betransmitted to user television equipment 26 via a communications path32. Communications path 32 may be a dial-up telephone line, cable link,fiber-optic link, satellite link, broadcast link, another suitable link,or a combination of such links. In some embodiments, computer networkserver 28 may be connected to main facility 12 via a communications pathsuitable for exchanging program guide information, video-on-demandinformation, or other information with main facility 12.

A client-server based interactive television program guide may beimplemented on television distribution facility 24 (FIG. 1). FIG. 2shows an illustrative arrangement for television distribution facility24 in which a program guide server may obtain program guide datadirectly from main facility 12.

Television distribution facility 24 may have program guide distributionequipment 56 and program guide server 50. Distribution equipment 56 isequipment that is suitable for providing program guide data from programguide server 50 to user television equipment 26 over communications path30. Distribution equipment 56 may include, for example, suitabletransmission hardware for distributing program guide data on atelevision channel sideband, in the VBI of a television channel, usingan in-band digital signal, using an out-of-band digital signal, over adedicated computer network or Internet link, or by any other datatransmission technique suitable for the type of communications path 30.Analog or digital video signals (e.g., television programs) may also bedistributed by distribution equipment 56 to user television equipment 26over communications paths 30 on multiple analog or digital televisionchannels. Alternatively, videos may be distributed to user televisionequipment 26 from some other suitable distribution facility, such as acable system headend, a broadcast distribution facility, a satellitetelevision distribution facility, or any other suitable type oftelevision distribution facility. If desired, television programming andprogram guide data may be provided over separate communications pathsand/or from separate distribution facilities.

Program guide server 50 may be based on any suitable combination ofserver software and hardware. Program guide server 50 may retrieveprogram guide data or video files from storage device 54 in response toprogram guide data or video requests generated by an interactivetelevision program guide client implemented on user television equipment26. As shown in FIG. 2 program guide server 50 may include processingcircuitry 52 and storage device 54. Processing circuitry 52 may includeany suitable processor, such as a microprocessor or group ofmicroprocessors, and other processing circuitry such as cachingcircuitry, video decoding circuitry, direct memory access (DMA)circuitry, input/output (I/O) circuitry, etc.

Storage device 54 may be a memory or other storage device, such asrandom access memory (RAM), flash memory, a hard disk drive, etc., thatis suitable for storing the program guide data transmitted to televisiondistribution facility 24 by main facility 12. User data, such aspreferences, record and reminder settings, viewing histories and logs,and other suitable data may also be stored on storage device 54 byprogram guide server 50. Program guide data and user data may be storedon storage device 54 in any suitable format (e.g., a Structured QueryLanguage (SQL) database). Storage 54 may also store various programfiles for on demand play back.

Processing circuitry 52 may process requests for program guide data bysearching the program guide data stored on storage device 54 for therequested data, retrieving the data, and providing the retrieved data todistribution equipment 56 for distribution to user television equipment26. Processing circuitry 52 may also process storage requests generatedby the program guide client that direct program guide server 50 to storeuser data. Alternatively, program guide server 50 may distribute programguide data to and receive user data directly from user televisionequipment 26. If communications paths 30 include an Internet link,DOCSIS link, or other high speed computer network link (e.g., digitalsubscriber line (DSL), 10BaseT, 100BaseT, 10BaseF, T1, T3, etc.),processing circuitry 52 may include circuitry suitable for transmittingprogram guide and user data and receiving program guide data and storagerequests over such a link.

Program guide server 50 may communicate with user television equipment26 using any suitable communications protocol. For example, programguide server 50 may use a communications protocol stack that includestransmission control protocol (TOP) and Internet protocol (IP) layers,sequenced packet exchange (SPX) and internetwork packet exchange (IPX)layers, Appletalk transaction protocol (ATP) and datagram deliveryprotocol (DDP) layers, DOCSIS, or any other suitable protocol orcombination of protocols. User television equipment 26 may also includesuitable hardware for communicating with program guide server 50 overcommunications paths 30 (e.g., Ethernet cards, digital modems, analogmodems, cable modems, etc.)

A program guide client that is implemented on user television equipment26 may retrieve program guide data from and store user data on programguide server 50 using any suitable client-server based approach. Theprogram guide may, for example, pass SQL requests as messages to programguide server 50. In another suitable approach, the program guide mayinvoke remote procedures that reside on program guide server 50 usingone or more remote procedure calls. Program guide server 50 may executeSQL statements for such invoked remote procedures. In still anothersuitable approach, client objects executed by the program guide maycommunicate with server objects executed by program guide server 50using, for example, an object request broker (ORB). This may involveusing, for example, Microsoft's Distributed Component Object Model(DCOM) approach. As used herein, “record requests” and “storagerequests” are intended to encompass any of these types of inter-processor inter-object communications, or any other suitable type ofinter-process or inter-object communication.

An illustrative arrangement for user television equipment 26 is shown inFIG. 3. User television equipment 26 may receive television programmingand data from television distribution facility 24 (FIG. 1), computernetwork server 28 (FIG. 1), some other system or distribution facility,or a combination thereof, at interface 70. During normal televisionviewing, a user may tune set-top box 72 to a desired television channel.The signal for that television channel may then be provided at videooutput 84 to a television 90. The signal supplied at output 84 may be amodulated signal on a predefined frequency channel (e.g., channel 3 or4), an analog demodulated video signal, a digital signal provided on anappropriate digital bus (e.g., a bus using the Institute of Electricaland Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394 standard), or any other suitablesignal. The video signal at output 84 may be received by secondarystorage device 86.

Program recording features may be integrated on set-top box 72, ontelevision 90 (if television 90 has suitable processing circuitry andmemory), on a suitable analog or digital receiver connected totelevision 90, on secondary storage device 86, or on any other suitabledevice. Program recording features may also be cooperatively implementedon a suitable combination of these devices.

Secondary storage device 86 can be any suitable type of analog ordigital storage device or player (e.g., a personal video recorder (PVR),an intelligent VCR, etc.). Program recording and other features may becontrolled by set-top box 72 using control path 82. If secondary storagedevice 86 is a video cassette recorder, a typical control path 82 may,for example, involve the use of an infrared transmitter coupled to theinfrared receiver in the videocassette recorder that normally acceptscommands from a remote control such as a remote control 92. Remotecontrol 92 may be used to control set-top box 72, secondary storagedevice 86, and television 90.

If desired, a user may record programs, application data or acombination thereof in digital form on an optional digital storagedevice 76. Digital storage device 76 may be a writeable optical storagedevice (such as a DVD player capable of handling recordable DVD discs),a magnetic storage device (such as a disk drive or digital tape), or anyother digital storage device. For example, interactive televisionprogram guide systems that have digital storage devices are described inHassell et al. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/157,256, filed Sep.17, 1998, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety.

Digital storage device 76 may be contained in set-top box 72 or may beexternal to set-top box 72 via an output port and appropriate interface.If necessary, processing circuitry in set-top box 72 may format thereceived video, audio and data signals into a digital file format. Thefile format may be an open file format such as the Moving PictureExperts Group (MPEG) MPEG-2 standard or the Moving Joint PhotographicExperts Group (MJPEG) standard. The resulting data may be streamed todigital storage device 76 via an appropriate bus (e.g., a bus using theInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394 standard),and then stored on digital storage device 76. In another suitableapproach, an MPEG-2 data stream or series of files may be received fromtelevision distribution facility 24 (FIG. 1) and stored.

Television 26 may receive video signals from secondary storage device 86via communications path 94. The video signals on communications path 94may be generated by secondary storage device 86, may be generated bydigital storage device 76 when playing back a recorded digital medium,may be passed through from set-top box 72, may be provided directly totelevision 90 from set-top box 72 if secondary storage device 86 is notincluded in user television equipment 90, or may be received directly bytelevision 90. During normal television viewing, the video signalsprovided to television 90 correspond to the desired channel to which auser has tuned with set-top box 72. Video signals may also be providedto television 90 by set-top box 72 when set-top box 72 is used to playback information stored on digital storage device 76.

Set-top box 72 may have memory 78. Memory 78 may be any memory or otherstorage device, such as a random access memory (RAM), read only memory(ROM), flash memory, a hard disk drive, a combination of such devices,etc., that is suitable for storing instructions and/or data.

Set-top box 72 may have an extractor 80. Extractor 80 may be anyhardware, software, or combination thereof suitable for extracting datafrom a real-time data stream (e.g., a vertical blanking interval “VBI”extractor). Similar components may be integrated into different hardwarein user television equipment 26 if desired.

Set-top box 72 may include a communications device 74 for communicatingwith television distribution facility 24, computer network server 28,other facilities, or a combination thereof, via interfaces 70 overcommunications paths 30 and 32. Communications device 74 may be one ormore modems (e.g., any suitable analog or digital standard, cellular, orcable modem), network interface cards (e.g., an Ethernet card, Tokenring card, etc.), or other suitable communications devices. Television90 and/or secondary storage device 86 may also incorporate such asuitable communications device if desired.

A more generalized embodiment of user television equipment 26 of FIG. 3is shown in FIG. 4. Data from television distribution facility 24 andother distribution facilities (e.g., program recording data, programguide data, etc.) is received by control circuitry 125 of usertelevision equipment 26. For example, control circuitry 125 may includecircuitry suitable for extracting in-band data from an analog channel asis indicated by extractor 80 in FIG. 3. Functions of control circuitry125 may be provided using the set-top box arrangement of FIG. 3.Alternatively, these functions may be integrated into an advancedtelevision receiver (e.g., a digital television receiver or highdefinition television (HDTV) receiver), personal computer television(PC/TV), or any other suitable arrangement. If desired, a combination ofsuch arrangements may be used.

User television equipment 26 of FIG. 3 may have secondary storage device155, digital storage device 150, or any suitable combination thereof forrecording programs. Secondary storage device 155 and digital storagedevice 150 may be omitted if desired. Secondary storage device 155 canbe any suitable type of analog or digital program storage device (e.g.,a personal video recorder “PVR”, an intelligent VCR, etc.). Programrecording and other features may be controlled by control circuitry 125.Digital storage device 150 may be, for example, a writeable opticalstorage device (such as a DVD player capable of handling recordable DVDdiscs), a magnetic storage device (such as a disk drive or digitaltape), or any other digital storage device.

User television equipment 26 may also include memory 130. Memory 130 maybe any memory or other storage device, such as a random access memory(RAM), read only memory (ROM), flash memory, a hard disk, a combinationof such devices, etc., that is suitable for storing instructions anddata. For example, stored data may consist of program guide data,program recording instructions, or any other suitable data for use bycontrol circuitry 125. Furthermore, memory 130 may be combined with orprovided by digital storage device 150 or secondary storage device 155.Memory 130 may also be used for caching videos. Program recordinginstructions may, for example, be communicated to control circuitry 125,from secondary storage device 155, to instruct a remote server (e.g.,program guide server 50 in FIG. 2) to delay or extend recording time.Communicated program recording instructions may be stored in memory 130.

User television equipment 26 may also include communications device 145for supporting communications between user television equipment 26 andtelevision distribution facility 24, computer network server 28, othersuitable facilities, or a combination thereof, via interfaces 70 overcommunications paths 30 and 32. Communications device 145 may be one ormore modems (e.g., any suitable analog or digital standard, cellular, orcable modem), network interface card (e.g., an Ethernet card, Token ringcard, etc.), or other suitable communications device.

In some embodiments, user television equipment 26 may include multiplecommunications devices 145, which may be of different types. Forexample, one or more communications devices 145 may be an integratedcable modem for supporting Internet channels. One or more communicationsdevices 145 may be receivers or tuners for in-band data paths. Whileuser television equipment 26 is tuned to a television channel, data,which may be related or unrelated to the television channel, may be sentalong with the audio and video of the channel. For analog television,the data may be sent in the video vertical-blanking interval (VBI). Fordigital television, the data may be sent as a separate digital datastream in the same analog carrier. One or more communications devicesmay be receivers for out-of-band data paths. For example, a receiver ortuner may be dedicated to continuously receiving out of band data froman out-of-band data channel. The channel may continuously provide data,regardless of the status of the other resources of user televisionequipment 26. One or more communications devices 145 may be modems fortelephone dial-up links.

The user may control the operation of user television equipment 26 withuser input device 135. User input device 135 may be a pointing device,wireless remote control, keyboard, touch-pad, voice recognition system,pen-based computer device or any other suitable user input device. Towatch television, the user instructs control circuitry 125 to display adesired television channel on display and audio output device 140. Toaccess the functions of the program guide, the user instructs theprogram guide implemented on user television equipment 26 to generate amain menu or other desired menu display screen for display on outputdevice 140.

When a user indicates a desire to access the interactive televisionprogram guide (e.g., by using a “MENU” key on remote control 92), theprogram guide may generate an appropriate program guide display screenon output device 140. Illustrative main menu display screen 500 of FIG.5 may be provided to allow the user access to various program guidefeatures. The interactive television program guide may provide the userwith an opportunity to view television program listings. Programlistings may be displayed, for example, by time, by channel, by category(e.g., movies, sports, children, etc.), or by titles, (e.g., listingsthat match a title text search). Program listings may be displayed usingany suitable list, table, grid, or other display arrangement. The usermay indicate a desire to view program listings by, for example,positioning a highlight region 502 over a desired program guide option504 and pressing a key on the remote control such as an “OK”, “Select”,or “Enter” key. When the user indicates a desire to view televisionprogram listings, the program guide may obtain program listings data andgenerate an appropriate program listings display screen for display onoutput device 140. Program listings data may be provided through a datastream from a program guide server (e.g., program guide server 50 ofFIG. 2), from memory (e.g., memory 130 of FIG. 4), or any other suitablesource capable of providing program guide data. The program listingsdisplay screen may be an overlay or a full screen display. Listings mayalso be overlaid or otherwise placed on the same screen as the program(e.g., as used in a “browse” mode). Main menu screen 500 and any otherdisplay screens may also include selectable advertisements, brand logos,current date, current time, current channel identifier, reduced video ofthe currently tuned channel, or any other items related to the featuresof this invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates a display screen 600 of program listings that aredisplayed by time. Program listings display screen 600 may includehighlight region 602, which may be used to highlight program listing604. The user may position highlight region 602 by entering appropriatecommands with a user input device (e.g., user input device 135 of FIG.4). For example, if a user input device has a keypad, the user can movehighlight region 602 using the up, down, left, and right arrow keys ofthe keypad. If desired, a touch sensitive screen, trackball, voicerecognition device, pen-based computer device, or other suitable devicemay be used in moving highlight region 602 or may be used to selectprogram listings without the use of highlight region 602. These methodsof selecting program listings are merely illustrative. Any othersuitable approach for selecting program listings, program guide options,or other items in the program guide may be used if desired.

An interactive television program guide may also provide the user withan option to select to have a program recorded. A user may positionhighlight region 602 over a desired program listing 604 and may useremote control 92 to select the highlighted program listing 604 (e.g.,by using an “OK” key on remote control 92). When the program listing 604is selected, information display screen 700 of FIG. 7 may be displayedto display program related options and a description of the selectedprogram. For example, display screen 700 may include record option 702along with other options (parental control option 704 and reminderoption 706). Display screen 700 may also include cancel option 708 toprovide the user with a way to exit information display screen 700 andchoose another program listing of interest. In operation, the programguide may display information display screen 700 when a user selects aprogram listing such as the program listing “Jets vs. Miami” fromprogram listings display screen 600. Information display screen 700 mayinclude a detailed description of the selected “Jets vs. Miami” programalong with user-selectable options 702, 704, 706, and 708. When the userselects record option 702, the program guide may select program listing604 to be recorded.

With reference now to FIG. 8, if desired, icons may be displayed inprogram listing 604 to indicate actions associated with the program orto inform users of specific information. For example, programs selectedfor recording may be displayed in their normal position within theprogram listings with icon associated with the program that indicatesthat the program has been selected for recording. An icon may also bedisplayed in program listing 604 to indicate that time changeinformation is available for that program listing. A time change may bea change to either the start time, end time, or both. The time change,which may also be referred to as a time delay and/or extension, may beeither before or after a nominal time (e.g., a normal start time).Nominal start and end times are program times that are published inadvance.

Illustrative display screen 800 of FIG. 8 shows, for example, a listingfor a scheduled recording of “Jets vs. Miami” at 8:00 PM on Friday.Program listing 604 includes icon 802 that is displayed to indicate thatthe “Jets vs. Miami” program has been selected for recording. Listing608 that is for a scheduled broadcast of “Friends” at 8:00 PM on Fridaymay include icon 804 that is displayed to indicate that time changeinformation is available for that program. If desired, program listing604 may also include an indication that time change information existsfor the program that is selected for recording. The user may view timechange information by, for example, accessing a recording directorydisplay screen (listing recorded and pending program selection),selecting the pending selection indicating time change information, andselecting to view relevant recording information about the program suchas time delay and/or extension information. Sample recording directoryand recording information display screens will be discussed in furtherdetail in FIGS. 9-11 c. Time change information for a selected programmay additionally be accessible through other means. In yet anotherembodiment, the availability of time change information for a programmay not be indicated on the listing screen. For example, time changeinformation may always be available, may never be available until airtime, or may be available without the guide displaying an icon (e.g.,icon 804). Other suitable approaches may be used to indicate that timechange information is present or to indicate that a program has beenselected to be recorded. For example, program listings may be displayedwith different colors, fonts, shades or any other suitable effect.

The program guide may provide the user with an opportunity to view adirectory of programs that have been selected for recording. FIG. 9shows a recording directory display screen 900 that the program guidemay display when, for example, the user selects recording option 506from main menu display screen 500 of FIG. 5. Recording directory displayscreen 900 may provide the user with a list of programs selected forrecording. For example, directory display screen 900 may provide theuser with listings of recorded selections 902 and lists of pendingselections 904. Listings of recorded selections 902 may be listings ofselected programs that have been recorded and listings of pendingselections 904 may be listings of programs that have been selected to berecorded. Display screen 1000 of FIG. 10 may be presented to the userwhen pending selection 906 from listings 904 is selected.

FIG. 10 illustrates pending selection display screen 1000. Displayscreen 1000 may provide the user with various options that are relatedto the pending program selected for recording. For example, displayscreen 1000 may include delete selection option 1002 for removing theprogram from the list of programs pending to be recorded, recordinginformation option 1004 for receiving additional information about theselected program, or recording preferences option 1006 for specifyingsettings for recording the program. Additional options may be madeavailable from display screen 1000.

Program recording techniques may incorporate methods for tracking timechanges that are used by distributors to delay the start or extend theend of real-time programs from their scheduled times. FIGS. 11a-11cillustrate recording information display screens that may provide userswith information that is related to programs that are selected forrecording. A user may select to view additional information about aprogram that is to be recorded. For example, a user may select recordinginformation option 1004 of FIG. 10 to access recording informationdisplay screen 1125 of FIG. 11a . Display screen 1125 may provide theuser with program information region 1102 and status region 1104. Region1102 may include a program description in description region 1130,channel region 1131 including a channel identifier for channel on whichthe program is airing, and rating region 1132 to show a program rating.Additional regions may be incorporated in region 1102.

Data may be associated with a program that is to be recorded. Such data(e.g., program listings data) may be provided with programs or separatefrom programs to the recording system using any suitable approach. Theassociated data may be provided using a continuous data stream, aperiodic data stream, client/server based data communications, any othersuitable approach, or a combination thereof. The associated data, forexample, may provide time change information. This information may beposted in region 1104. Region 1104 may provide the user with informationpertaining to start times, end times, and delays and/or extensions inthe times. Regions 1110 and 1111 may show the start time and end time,respectively, of a program. Region 1110 may post the nominal start timeand region 1111 may post the nominal end time. Region 1104 may also posttime change information.

Region 1104 may also post time change information. In one embodiment,time change information displayed in region 1104 may include a predictedtime delay in predicted delay region 1108 and/or a predicted timeextension in predicted extension region 1109. The predicted time delayand time extension may be provided by a program provider, a dataprovider (e.g., television distribution facility 24 in FIG. 2), or anyother suitable provider based on past occurrences of time changes or anyother suitable approach. A log may be maintained (e.g., using a storagedevice) of previous time changes. Using logs in predicting time changesare further discussed in connection with FIG. 14.

In another embodiment, time change information displayed in region 1104may be actual time delay and/or extension information. FIG. 11b showsinformation display screen 1150. Region 1104, in display screen 1150,may indicate an actual time delay that is expected in actual delayregion 1152 and/or an actual time extension in actual extension region1154. The actual time delay and actual time extension may also beprovided by the program provider, the data provider, or any othersuitable provider. The actual time delay may be an actual delay that isexpected in the start time of the program and the actual time extensionmay be an actual extension that is expected in the end time of theprogram by the program distributor.

Some recording systems (e.g., VCR's) may only be capable of recordingone program at a time. Such systems may allow for adjacent programs tobe recorded in which both programs may be recorded based on nominalstart and end times. When this type of recording system experiences atime change in one of the programs, the adjacent recordings mightoverlap and cause cut-off in the recording of one or both of theadjacent programs. The program guide may help to reduce the cut-off ofadjacent recordings by trimming the time delay and/or extension of oneor both of the adjacent programs. For example, the program guide couldbase which program recording time to trim based on the confidence in theprediction of the time change. The confidence in the time changes may bedetermined by the number of samples collected to provide the predictedtime change. In such systems, the program guide may automatically reducecut-off in the recording of adjacent programs that overlap.

In another embodiment, if two adjacent recordings are detected on arecording system, only capable of recording one program at a time,preference may be given to the first adjacent program. The program guidemay automatically trim the second of the two adjacent programs tomaintain the ending of the first program. This may be preferred by userswho would rather lose the beginning of a program than lose the end, orconclusion, of a program.

Time change information may not be available. If time change informationis not available for a program selected for recording, recording relatedinformation region 1104 may post “Delay Information Not Available” indelay region 1180 and “Extension Information Not Available” in extensionregion 1182 as illustrated in display screen 1175 of FIG. 11c .Although, if time delay and/or extension information is available for aprogram selected for recording, the user may choose to adjust recordingstart and end times to compensate for the time changes. FIGS. 11a-11cprovide the user with recording preferences option 1106. Recordingpreferences feature 1106 may provide the user with an opportunity toadjust recording times to compensate for predicted or actual timechanges. FIGS. 12a and 12b show illustrative display screens 1200 and1250, respectively, that illustrate functionality that may be providedto a user when option 1106 is selected.

Display screen 1200 of FIG. 12a provides the user with options foradjusting his or her recording preferences. Display screen 1200 mayinclude program listing region 1208 for showing listing information forthe program that is to be recorded and time change information regions1214 and 1216 for posting the predicted or actual time delays and/orextensions, respectively. The user may also be provided with mode option1202 for setting the operating mode of the recording system. Theoperating mode may allow the user to select between a manual mode or anautomatic mode. If the user chooses to control recording times he or shemay select “Manual” in mode option 1202. When this option is selectedthe user may be provided with an ability to specify how the start of arecording should be delayed and/or the end of a recording should beextended. In manual mode, recording start time option 1204 and recordingend time option 1206 may be made available to the user. Option 1204 andoption 1206 may, respectively, allow the user to specify how earlyand/or late the system should start and end recording the selectedprogram. For example, in FIG. 11a , a predicted time delay and extensionof two minutes is displayed in status region 1104 for the program“Titanic”. Upon being informed of the time change for the program, theuser may access display screen 1200 of FIG. 12a , using recordingpreferences option 1106 of FIG. 11a , and specify when the recordingshould start and end. When a user is satisfied with his or heradjustments, the user may save their selections by exiting displayscreen 1250 using exit option 1210. If the user decides to cancelrecording of the selected program or to cancel selection mode in displayscreen 1200, the user may select cancel option 1212.

If desired, when a user selects a program listing to be automaticallyrecorded (e.g., by highlighting a listing and pressing a “Record” key onuser input device 135, by selecting the record option from overlay 702of FIG. 7, etc.), a single display screen may be displayed that includesthe options and information that is shown, for example, in FIGS. 11a and12a except for possibly recording preferences option 1006. The displayscreen will allow a user to view program related information, recordingpreferences, and time change information together. The list of programsto be recorded may be accessed through, for example, a main menu displayscreen.

In another embodiment, the recording system may be configured toautomatically adjust to compensate for time changes. Display screen 1250in FIG. 12b displays mode option 1202 which has been set to “Auto”. Ifthis mode is selected, the start and end times that are displayed inoptions 1204 and 1206 may be automatically set by the recording systemto compensate for predicted or actual time changes. If desired, when in“Auto” mode, recording start time option 1204 and recording end timeoption 1206 may be shaded to indicate that these options are notcurrently available for selection by the user. For example, thepredicted time delay and extension of two minutes posted in regions 1108and 1109, respectively, may be automatically incorporated into thenominal start and end times by the recording system. As shown in FIG.12b , the program “Titanic” has a nominal start time at 7:00 PM and anominal end time at 10:15 PM. As a result of the predicted delay and the“Auto” mode, the recording system may automatically adjust option 1204to start recording at 7:02 PM and option 1206 to end recording at 10:17PM.

Display screens 1200 and 1250 are only provided for purposes ofillustration and not by way of limitation. Additional time changeoptions may be incorporated in the display screens. If there are actualand predicted time changes that are associated with a program that isselected to be recorded and the automatic mode is selected, therecording system may adjust start and end times based on whichever timechange is longer. If desired, rather than selecting the longer timechange, the recording system may have been configured to always select aparticular one of the two types of time change information.

FIGS. 13-15 are flowcharts of illustrative steps involved in someembodiments of the present invention. The steps shown in FIGS. 13-15 areonly illustrative and may be performed in any suitable order. Inpractice, steps may be added, omitted, or combined.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of illustrative steps involved in adjusting therecording time of a selected program. At step 1302, the recording systemmay provide the user with an opportunity to select a program to berecorded (e.g., from program listings display screen 600 in FIG. 6).Program guide distribution equipment 56 of FIG. 2 or a data provider(e.g., data provider 1606 of FIG. 16) may distribute data associatedwith programs (e.g., data specified by program providers) to usertelevision equipment 26 of FIG. 1 (e.g., set-top box 72). At step 1304,the program guide may determine whether the data associated with theprogram indicates a time change. If a time change is not indicated bythe associated data, at step 1306, programs may be recorded at theirscheduled times. At step 1312, if the associated data indicates thatthere will be a time change, time change information for that programmay be provided to a user (e.g., displayed in display regions 1108 and1109 of FIG. 11a or display regions 1152 and 1154 of FIG. 11b ). Step1312 may include substep 1314 that determines the duration of the timechange by determining the time delay and/or extension in the program'snominal times. At step 1310, the program may be recorded with the timechange to compensate for the time change indicated at step 1304. Step1310 may include substep 1308 that determines the duration of the timechange by determining the time delay and/or extension in the program'snominal times. When the recording time has been adjusted to compensatefor the time change, the program may be properly recorded without cutoffor with a reduction in the cutoff that would have occurred without theadjustment. If desired step 1310 may be performed after displaying timechange information in step 1312 or may be performed following theindication of a time change in step 1304.

A log of previous programs with time changes may be maintained topredict future program time changes. When a time change log includes arecord of time changes that are related to a selected program, programguide distribution equipment 56 may transmit the time change loginformation or information that is based on the time change loginformation to user television equipment 26. The log may use channelhistory information, network history information, or any other suitablecriteria in monitoring programming time changes. FIG. 14a is a flowchartof illustrative steps involved in predicting time changes. At step 1402,a log of previous programs with changed times may be maintained andstored on a program guide server such as program guide server 50 of FIG.2 or in local memory such as memory 78 or digital storage device 76.When a user selects to record a program, the program guide server maypoll a storage device (e.g., storage device 54) in step 1404 and searchfor any log entries that are related to the selected program. If no logentries are associated with or related to the program selection then theguide may not predict a time change at step 1406. For example, the text“Delay Information Not Available” and the text “Extension InformationNot Available” may be displayed in regions 1180 and 1182 of FIG. 11c .If a stored log entry corresponds with or is related to the user'sprogram selection in step 1404, time change information from the log maybe used to predict a time delay and/or extension at step 1408. Theuser's program selection may be related to a stored log entry by achannel, a network, the actual program, or through any other applicableapproach. Other suitable techniques may also be used, such as, usingstatistical analysis based on variations in air times by program type.

FIG. 14b is a flowchart of illustrative steps showing how the recordingsystem may compensate for a predicted time change. At step 1409, a timechange may be predicted. Step 1409 may include substep 1410 in which thepredicted time change may be displayed. For example, when a useraccesses the interactive program guide to display a display screen(e.g., display screen 1150 of FIG. 11b ). At step 1412, the recordingsystem may check to see if the recording mode is set to automaticallycompensate for time changes. For example, a user may select the mode ofoperation through option 1202 of FIGS. 12a and 12b . If the recordingsystem is not set to automatic, at step 1414, the user may be providedwith an opportunity to adjust recording settings. For example, the usermay adjust the start time in option 1204 and end time in option 1206 ofFIG. 12a . If the operating mode is set to automatically respond to timechanges, the scheduled recording times may be automatically adjusted tocompensate for the time change in the start and end time of the programat step 1416. When the recording start and end times have been adjustedto compensate for time delays and/or extensions, the program may berecorded with the adjusted times at step 1418.

FIG. 14c is a flowchart of illustrative steps showing how the recordingsystem may compensate for adjacent recordings when a time change ispredicted. At step 1430, a recording system capable of only recordingone program at a time (e.g., a VCR) may be set to record two programs,the programs being time adjacent to one other. For example, a firstprogram, hereinafter the scheduled program, may be set to be recordedbetween 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM on one channel and an adjacent program maybe set to be recorded from 1:00 PM to 1:30 PM on another channel. Atstep 1432, the scheduled program may experience a time change. When atime change occurs in this type of recording system, a check may beperformed, at step 1434, to evaluate if there exists an adjacent programto be recorded. This may allow the recording system to detectoverlapping in program recording and attempt to compensate accordinglyto minimize cut-offs in the recording of the programs. If no adjacentprogram recording is present, then at step 1436 the recording system mayaccordingly adjust recording start and end times, for the scheduledprogram, to compensate for the predicted time change.

If step 1434 detects an adjacent program to be recorded then aconfidence level in the predicted time change of the scheduled programmay be determined. The confidence level of the scheduled program and theconfidence level of the adjacent program are compared, at step 1438. Theconfidence level may be determined by, for example, evaluating thenumber of samples collected of previous time changes. The recordingsystem may determine that the samples collected to provide the predictedtime change of the scheduled program may not be sufficiently reliablewhen compared to the adjacent program. This may signal the recordingsystem to assign the predicted time change of the scheduled program alow confidence level. If the confidence level is determined to be low,the recording system may trim the recording time of the scheduledprogram, at step 1444, in order to attempt to minimize cut-off in themore reliable adjacent program to be recorded. Although, if theconfidence level is determined to be high for the recording of thescheduled program when compared to the recording of adjacent program,the recording system may trim the recording time of the adjacentprogram, at step 1442, to reduce cut-off in the recording of thescheduled program. Other suitable methods may be used to determine whichof the adjacent recordings may be trimmed.

In yet another embodiment of the recording system, a real-time datastream may be monitored. FIG. 15 is an illustrative flowchart of such anembodiment. At step 1502, the user may be provided with an opportunityto select a program for recording. At step 1504, the selected programmay be cued for recording (e.g., as illustrated by icon 802 of FIG. 8).When the program has been cued, a real-time data stream may be monitoredin step 1506 by the recording system. In step 1508, an extractor (e.g.,extractor 80 integrated in set-top box 72 of FIG. 3) may decipher theincoming data stream looking for a cue that the program is about tostart or end. If the deciphered data stream indicates the program isstarting or ending, the recording system may be signaled to begin orstop recording in step 1512, respectively, otherwise the recordingsystem may continue to monitor the real-time data stream.

A simplified system diagram for providing automatic or manual adjustmentof predicted or actual time delays and/or extensions is shown in FIG.16. The system may include user television equipment 1602, such as theuser television equipment that is discussed above in connection withFIGS. 1-4. The system may include media provider 1604 that may be adistribution facility for distributing media, such as televisionprogramming, radio, video-on-demand, pay-per-view, music-on-demand,etc., to user television equipment 1602. Media that is distributed maybe real-time media may be real-time media of live events such as, livebroadcasts of particular television programs (e.g., the live broadcastof the “Maryland vs. Duke” basketball game at 10:00 PM), may bereal-time media such as radio station broadcasts of a particular musicrecording for listening as the music recording is being broadcast, etc.

As discussed above, a user may be allowed to view listings of upcomingmedia events (e.g., programs, songs, etc.) and allowed to select a mediaevent to be automatically recorded based on a schedule (e.g., for themedia event). Media provider 1604 may, for example, be a televisiondistribution facility, a radio station, a network broadcast center, acomputer network, etc., or a plurality of such. Data provider 1606 maybe, among other things, a provider of time change information that isrelated to media events (e.g., media events that are scheduled forpresentation to user's media providers).

As discussed above, time change information may be a predicted or anactual time change for an upcoming or current media event that isscheduled to be broadcast. Data provider 1606 may be a televisiondistribution facility, radio station, computer server, computer network,Internet, etc., or a combination of such. Techniques for providing datato user television equipment 1602 are discussed above (e.g., using theVBI). If desired, media provider 1604 and data provider 1606 may besingle facility 1608 (e.g., a television distribution facility thatdistributes a {prerecorded or live} program for live presentation totelevision viewers and distributes data that provides, among otherthings, time change information for the program). Data provider 1606 maydistribute a real-time data stream for use by user television equipment1602 (e.g., data for a program or programming may be distributed inreal-time correspondence to the distribution of the program orprogramming to viewers).

Thus, systems and methods for reducing cut-offs in recording programsare provided.

One skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention can bepracticed by other than the described embodiments, which are presentedfor purposes of illustration and not of limitation, and the presentinvention is limited only by the claims which follow.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for indicating how copies are to be madeof media assets subject to variations in scheduled broadcast times, themethod comprising: generating for display a plurality of media assetidentifiers; receiving a first user selection of a media assetidentifier of the plurality of media asset identifiers prior to ascheduled broadcast period corresponding to the media asset identifier,the first user selection comprising a request to store a copy of a mediaasset transmitted from a source; determining whether the media asset issubject to variations in broadcast times; in response to determiningthat the media asset is subject to variations in broadcast times: inresponse to determining that a manual recording mode is active,generating for display a menu comprising a selectable option forrequesting the copy of the media asset be made by writing the broadcasttransmission from the source to the memory during a modified broadcastperiod longer than the scheduled broadcast period; and in response todetermining that an auto recording mode is active, generating fordisplay a menu comprising a non-selectable option for requesting thecopy of the media asset be made by writing the broadcast transmissionfrom the source to the memory during the modified broadcast period, thenon-selectable option being visually distinct from the selectableoption.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the writing the broadcasttransmission from the source to the memory during the modified broadcastperiod comprises: receiving the broadcast transmission from the sourceat a predetermined start time of the modified broadcast period;determining an end time of the modified broadcast period after thepredetermined start time; and writing the broadcast transmission,received between the predetermined start time and the end time, from thesource to the memory.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the broadcasttransmission from the source is a broadcast transmission of the mediaasset, and wherein the determining the end time of the modifiedbroadcast period comprises: monitoring metadata corresponding to thebroadcast transmission of the media asset; periodically evaluating,based on the metadata corresponding to the broadcast transmission of themedia asset, whether the broadcast transmission of the media asset willextend beyond the end time of the modified broadcast period; based onthe evaluating, determining that the broadcast transmission of the mediaasset will extend beyond the end time; and updating the end time of themodified broadcast period to a new end time based on determining thatthe broadcast transmission of the media asset will extend beyond the endtime.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein updating the end time of themodified broadcast period comprises updating the end time to a new endtime that is later than the end time by a fixed increment of time. 5.The method of claim 2, wherein receiving the broadcast transmission fromthe source comprises tuning to a broadcast from the source, furthercomprising: ceasing to receive the broadcast transmission from thesource at the end time of the modified broadcast period.
 6. The methodof claim 1, wherein the selectable option comprises: (1) a firstuser-selectable setting to define the modified broadcast period to havea first modified end time that is, based on metadata corresponding tothe broadcast transmission of the media asset, automatically extended toa time later than an end time of the scheduled broadcast period, and (2)a second user-selectable setting to define the modified broadcast periodto have a second modified end time that is later than the end time ofthe scheduled broadcast period by a preset amount of time.
 7. The methodof claim 6, wherein the selectable option comprises a thirduser-selectable setting to define the modified broadcast period to havea modified start time that is earlier than a start time of the scheduledbroadcast period by a preset amount of time.
 8. The method of claim 1,wherein the non-selectable option is generated for displaysimultaneously with a start time of the scheduled broadcast period andan end time of the scheduled broadcast period.
 9. A system forindicating how copies are to be made of media assets subject tovariations in scheduled broadcast times, the system comprising controlcircuitry configured to: generate for display a plurality of media assetidentifiers; receive a first user selection of a media asset identifierof the plurality of media asset identifiers prior to a scheduledbroadcast period corresponding to the media asset identifier, the firstuser selection comprising a request to store a copy of a media assettransmitted from a source; determine whether the media asset is subjectto variations in broadcast times; in response to determining that themedia asset is subject to variations in broadcast times: in response todetermining that a manual recording mode is active, generate for displaya menu comprising a selectable option for requesting the copy of themedia asset be made by writing the broadcast transmission from thesource to the memory during a modified broadcast period longer than thescheduled broadcast period; and in response to determining that an autorecording mode is active, generate for display a menu comprising anon-selectable option for requesting the copy of the media asset be madeby writing the broadcast transmission from the source to the memoryduring the modified broadcast period, the non-selectable option beingvisually distinct from the selectable option.
 10. The system of claim 9,wherein control circuitry is further configured to write the broadcasttransmission from the source to the memory during the modified broadcastperiod by being configured to: receive the broadcast transmission fromthe source at a predetermined start time of the modified broadcastperiod; determine an end time of the modified broadcast period after thepredetermined start time; and write the broadcast transmission, receivedbetween the predetermined start time and the end time, from the sourceto the memory.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein the broadcasttransmission from the source is a broadcast transmission of the mediaasset, and wherein the control circuitry is further configured todetermine the end time of the modified broadcast period by beingconfigured to: monitor metadata corresponding to the broadcasttransmission of the media asset; periodically evaluate, based on themetadata corresponding to the broadcast transmission of the media asset,whether the broadcast transmission of the media asset will extend beyondthe end time of the modified broadcast period; based on the evaluating,determine that the broadcast transmission of the media asset will extendbeyond the end time; and update the end time of the modified broadcastperiod to a new end time based on determining that the broadcasttransmission of the media asset will extend beyond the end time.
 12. Thesystem of claim 11, wherein the control circuitry is further configuredto update the end time of the modified broadcast period by beingconfigured to update the end time to a new end time that is later thanthe end time by a fixed increment of time.
 13. The system of claim 10,wherein the control circuitry is further configured to receive thebroadcast transmission from the source by being configured to tune to abroadcast from the source, and wherein the control circuitry is furtherconfigured to: cease to receive the broadcast transmission from thesource at the end time of the modified broadcast period.
 14. The systemof claim 9, wherein the selectable option comprises: (1) a firstuser-selectable setting to define the modified broadcast period to havea first modified end time that is, based on metadata corresponding tothe broadcast transmission of the media asset, automatically extended toa time later than an end time of the scheduled broadcast period, and (2)a second user-selectable setting to define the modified broadcast periodto have a second modified end time that is later than the end time ofthe scheduled broadcast period by a preset amount of time.
 15. Thesystem of claim 14, wherein the selectable option comprises a thirduser-selectable setting to define the modified broadcast period to havea modified start time that is earlier than a start time of the scheduledbroadcast period by a preset amount of time.
 16. The system of claim 9,wherein the control circuitry is configured to generate for display thenon-selectable option simultaneously with a start time of the scheduledbroadcast period and an end time of the scheduled broadcast period.